How to Act on Camera

Acting in front of a camera is completely different from stage acting and therefore requires different skills. Reading the script and speaking with the director are the first steps in knowing your role and being ready to give your best performance for the camera.

Instructions

1. Understand the aim of the piece you're performing. In order to get this, read the script thoroughly and note all staging directions. Speak with the director about how he intends to shoot the piece.

2. Find your marks and stay on them. Keep your facial expressions limited. The hardest part of acting for a camera is being believable. In order to do so, you must act exactly as you would in your everyday life. Stage theatrics are easily identified as "acting" and the whole point of camera acting is to not seem like you are.

3. Know what angle the camera is at and what distance. Most professional camera work is detailed and specific. If you move a mere inch to the left or right, it could ruin the shot if you're doing close-ups. For wide shots, you have more freedom with your body.

4. Speak as you would in normal life. You don't need to speak loudly as if you were on stage. The sound department will adjust according to you, not the other way around. If you need to whisper, whisper. They'll pick you up.

5. Relax and don't rush it. Yes, you have an entire crew waiting on you, but no one is budging until you get it right. Take the time to think on camera instead of rushing through your lines. Believe you're really in the scene and eventually, you will be.

Tips & Warnings

• Leave other departments' jobs to those professionals. As an actor, you don't need to worry about your hair or make-up, the lighting, the sound or catering. This frees you to focus on your performance and making the scene come alive.

• On-camera acting classes might be available in your area and are priceless to your development as an actor. Doing background work can also be beneficial if you commit to paying attention on set and watching the actors as they work.

• Most on-camera acting is shot as if the audience is an invisible spectator to the scene. In this case, it's essential that you never look at the camera unless the director tells you to do so. This proves a challenge when the camera is one foot from your face and you're supposed to cry or you've already done 16 takes of the same five words and have to keep making it fresh until you get it right.